The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-25
BEHIND THE EASTERN VEIL.
Persian Women-What They Do and
How They Do 1t, at Home and Abroad.
It..,., Ia q L., ILL.


in a gilded cage, closely guarded by very
ugly eunuchs, and reduced to spend their
time in attempting to catch the smiles of a
Jealous lord. as they sprawl in graceful at
titudes on sillfen cushions. Their only
other occupation is understood to he devour-
ing immense quantities of Sweetmeats in
order to become corpulent; their only
amusement the pleasure of poisoning rival
wives, and hearing interminable stories of
the Arabian Nights" pattern.
1t is true that with the Turk
beauty must be fat 1t is not
so, however, with the Persian:
he has the appreciation of connoisseur for
the juSte ntitteu. A stout woman in Persia
is spoken of as IAN elephant while the
leaner ones are generally called "camels.n
Though they deal largely in hyperbole, the
Persians do not mince matters in speaking
of the fair sex. The veil, which is habituallv
worn out OF doors even by the very poor in
all great towns in Persia, though its use is
unknown among the tribes who form at
least third of the whole population is
chung to by the women as a privilege: it is
in fact a domino. The Persian woman out
of doors is unrecognizable even by her hus-
band She sees without being seen, and in
the veil it is impossible to detect the age
of the wearer, and the Persian ladv is
nearly always married at IA, she begins to
fade at 81 at latest, and so she appears so,
and there are only two dentists in the whole
of Persia.
Polygamy is the luxury of the rich; with
the upper and middle classes bigamy is the
rule A mans first alliance is a marriage
de cOnveadnce, the second either marriage
for love or for the qualification of vanity.
When your Persian brings home a second
wife there is usually a scene which lasts for
a week or two; there is a struggle for
supremacy, but it is soon over Both wives
do their best to please the master of the
house; but they do not attempt to poison
each other, unless in very exceptional cir
cumstances. But Persian ladies still believe
in the efficacy of love philters, and many
an abomination is secretly administered to
unfortunate husbands Happily, the love
philter, though usually composed of horri-
Bile ingredients, is quite harmless.
The bath takes up good deal of the time
of all Persian women. Even the poorest
will attend the Hammam at least once a
week. For the lady the bath is one of the
serious affairs of life, and takes up daily
from two to four hours of her time. 1t is
something more than our idea of a bath.
The victim is scraped and rubbed and par
boiled. The soles of the feet are pumiced
until they are soft and tender as those of a
little child. The hair is thoroughly washed
by means of hot water, and the saponaceous
clay for which Shiraz is celebrated. Then
the attendants mix in a brazen bowl the
aromatic henna with the requisite
amount of lemon juice, till a brown
paste of the consistency of Cruel
is produced, and several handfuls
of the repulsive looking compound are
smeared over the lady's head. Then the
hair, collected into mass, is bound up in
cabbage leaves. Small quantities of the
dye are smeared over the eyebrows; the
soles of the feet, the toes, the palms of the
hands, and the finger-tips are also covered
with it. And now the lady has to sit per-
fectly still for from one to three hours, till,
like meerschaum pipe, she colors; and it is
exactly the color obtained on the best spec-
mems of pipes that is most fashionable among
the Persian ladies. Day after day the bath
is thronged with women, each sitting per-
fectly still for the color to take" But
they have their reward, for the henna
dyes the hair a beautiful deep warm
chestnut; hence gray hair is unknown
among Persian ladies. While the coloring
process has been going on tongues have
been running, and good deal of scandal
has been exchanged. The female barber,
with pair of tweezers has removed every
outlying hair from the region of the lady's
eyebrows. 1t is the ambition of every Per-
sian woman that her eyebrows shall meet
or at least appear to do so. So attractive
the bridge of loves The first care, then,
of the Persian beauty is with little pencil
of anthony to unite her eyebrows, and
then she proceeds to make them appear of
unnatural thickness: her evelashes are pen
ciled, too, in manner not unknown to our
own countrywomen. BY this time the lady
will have smoked many kalians or water
pipes, she will have partaken of tea, andr
called herself with coffee; iced sherbets,
will haUn haa11 wanting Hat fin
ger tips, nails and palms, as well as the
soleS of her feet and toes, have attained
bright chestnut hue, which will last a week
The hair is carefully washed once more. 1t
is seldom under a yard long, often much
more; for the Persian woman never cuts
her hair, except in front, when two heavy
love-locks are left on either side of the face.
The ladies now return home to their noon
day breakfasts After breakfast there is
generally siesta, and this in hot country
is almost a necessity. About tea and pipes
appear; and then the lady receives callers,
or pays visits, or perhaps does , little shop
ping, or takes the air mounted on her am
bling mule, or a donkey of snowy white
ness.
The Persians are very punctilious race;
and it is the sensible custom of the country,
on making call, to announce beforehand
that you are coming. A thousand and one
little points of punctilio have to be OBJ
served; a certain number of cups of tea are
de r1gueur three pipes at least have to be
smoked, a few whiffs from each, the rank
and precedence of every guest is vigorously
observed, and each visitor intrigues for and
generally receives little more than her due.
To omit to return visit is an unpardon-
able offense. The particular place in the
apartment of each guest is regulated to
nicely, and many aud bitter are the feuds
On thissubject.
The Persian lady is a good housewife.
She rises with the dawn, she is liberal in her
housekeeping, kind to her servants-a little
profuse, perhaps, but then living is cheap in
the East The keys of everything are in the
keeping of the mistress of the mouse, and she
Is usually exact in her accounts. All the
vast stock of conserves and sweetmeats,
syrups for the preparation of sherbets, and
pickles in endless variety are either pre-
pared by her own fingers or under her eyes.
Nor does she disdain to be a confectioner
and maker of pastry. As evening approaches
the long and elaborate Persian dinner
Deng partaken of among the upper
classes by the sexes apart-She prepares to
entertain her husband; she will play to him
upon the Lutte or harmonica; she will sing
70 him, or read him to sleep with poetry;
Or she will play with him at backgammon
or chess, or recite TO him long stories in the
style of THE Arabian Nights When he
is sick she nurses him, and it is her pride to
zee That his wardrobe is well supplied ana
ms servants well clad. She will intrigue
Tor him ME 30. liz fot.h him and has